Press Releases

Truman State Forensics Union started off the month of November with an excellent showing. The individual events competitors traveled to Peoria, Illinois, to compete in the 78th Annual L.E. Norton Memorial Tournament at Bradley University. The Norton is the biggest invitational tournament of the semester, drawing powerhouse teams like Western Kentucky University, GeorgeMason, the University of Alabama, and the University of Texas at Austin. 

Varsity competitor Emery McEvoy, a second-year accounting major from Springfield, Missouri, was a semifinalist in extemporaneous speaking. Novice competitors Annie Nguyen and Jack Unsell also did incredibly well. Unsell, a first-year political science and environmental science double-major from Kansas City, Missouri, was 5th in novice extemporaneous and a semifinalist in novice impromptu speaking. Nguyen, a first-year political science and environmental science double-major from Wichita, Kansas, was tournament champion in novice persuasive speaking. Individual events competitors also participated in the next installment of the Online Asynchronous Tournament Series (OATS). Third-year political science major Ashton Mullen placed 5th in extemporaneous speaking.

In debate, the team simultaneously attended the Illinois State University Redbird Invitational online. Making it to the final roundof NFA Lincoln-Douglas debate was second-year mathematics major Ryan Franklin from Fairview Heights, Illinois. He placed 2nd overall in the tournament. Third-year political science and philosophy major, Payten Luaders, from Montreal, Missouri, was an octafinalist and received a 3rd place speaker award. Also finishing as an octafinalist was Ammi Mchugh, a first-year political science and creative writing double-major from Jefferson City. First year Nevaeh Carter, a communication disorders major from Wichita, Kansas, secured a quarterfinalist finish. The team was second overall in tournament sweepstakes, topping nationally-ranked programs such as North Texas, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Pittsburg, and Lewis and Clark.

 

With this impressive showing to close out the in-person competition for the fall semester, coaches are looking towards Spring. Coach Ben Davis says, “This semester has been full of great successes, now it’s time to plan for the future.” The team is hard at work preparing for its next semester of competition.

This past weekend, Truman Debaters attended the second Public Forum Debate Tournament of the season, sponsored by Pi Kappa Delta. This style of debate has teams of two go head-to-head on a semester-long topic. Second-year Economics and Political Science major, Sawyer Partney, from Springfield, MO, and his debate partner, Eric Rotert, a second-year Criminal Justice major from Liberty, MO, had an outstanding showing this weekend. Partney and Rotert were the tournament champions, defeating the University of Missouri in the final round. Truman’s showing also placed them ahead of Simpson College, Butler University, and Otterbein College, among others. Partney and Rotert also finished 7th and 6th place, respectively, in speaker awards. Speaker awards are given to debate competitors for their exemplary performance abilities.

Assistant Director of Forensics, Lars Wagener, says, “This team is doing incredibly well for so early in the season. It is exciting to see the growth of our students in this new format.” Debaters are currently prepping for their next competition, the Illinois State University Redbird. The Individual Event Team will also take on Illinois at Bradley University’s Norton Invitational this coming weekend.

The first week of October was an exciting time for Truman Forensics. While the campus was enjoying Fall Break, the team was busy competing at 4 tournaments. Across OATS #1, PKD Public Forum #1, and the Missouri Mule/Carnegie Swing, the team secured 35 more national qualifications, bringing the total this semester up to 39 for the National Forensic Association (NFA) tournament. The team brought back a total of 107 awards, one of the largest single-week successes the team has had in twenty years. Associate Director of Forensics, Lars Wagener, is thrilled with the team’s hard work and “downright ecstatic to see what the rest of the season holds.” To qualify for the NFA tournament, students must reach a sufficiently-sized elimination round in a regular-season tournament. The tally below documents the impressive showing across these four tournaments.

TOTAL NFA QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE WEEK: 35

TOTAL AFA QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE WEEK: 6

CUMULATIVE NFA QUALIFICATIONS TO DATE (INCLUDING DEBATE): 39

TOTAL AWARDS FOR THE WEEK: 107

Pi Kappa Delta Public Forum Debate Tournament Series #1

• Eric Rotert (1st-year) and Sawyer Partney (2nd-year) – Semifinalists
• Sawyer Partney (2nd-year) – 4^th Speaker
• Payten Luaders (3rd-year) – 7^th Speaker
• Ashton Mullen (3rd-year) – 9^th Speaker

Online Asynchronous Tournament Series #1

• Briggs Maynor (4th-year) and Alex Peterson (4th-year) – 4^th Place in Duo Interpretation (NFA Qualification)
• Jack Unsell (1st-year) – 4^th Place and Top Novice in Extemporaneous Speaking (NFA Qualification)
• Jack Unsell (1st-year) – Semifinalist and Top Novice in Impromptu Speaking (NFA Qualification)
• Jack Unsell (1st-year) – Top Novice in Individual Sweepstakes
• Emery McEvoy (2nd-Year)  – Semifinalist in Impromptu Speaking (NFA Qualification)
• Ashton Mullen (3rd-Year) – 5^th Place in Informative Speaking (NFA Qualification)
• Annie Nguyen (1st-year) – Top Novice in Persuasive Speaking
• Cooper Spacil (2nd-Year) – 7th Place (NFA Qualification)
• Team Sweepstakes – 2^nd Place (Tied with Louisiana State University, Illinois State was 4^th, UT-Austin was 5^th)

University of Central Missouri “Swing” Tournament (2 Parts)

Missouri Mule – Individual Events

• Willow Adamson (1st-year) – 1^st in Poetry Interpretation (NFA Qualification)
• Willow Adamson (1st-year) – 4^th in After Dinner Speaking (NFA Qualification)
• Briggs Maynor (4th-year) – 3^rd in Rhetorical Criticism (NFA Qualification)
• Briggs Maynor (4th-year) – 5^th in Prose Interpretation  (NFA Qualification)
• Briggs Maynor (4th-year) and Alex Peterson (4th-year) – 1^st in Duo Interpretation (AFA Qualification)
• Briggs Maynor (4th-year) and Jessie Philips (4th-year) – 2^nd in Duo Interpretation (NFA Qualification)
• Annie Nguyen (1st-year) – 2^nd in Informative Speaking (NFA Qualification)
• Annie Nguyen (1st-year) – 2^nd in Persuasive Speaking (NFA Qualification)
• Alex Peterson (4th-year) – 1^st in Impromptu Speaking (NFA Qualification)
• Alex Peterson (4th-year) – 3^rd in After Dinner Speaking (NFA Qualification)
• Alex Peterson (4th-year) – 3^rd in Informative Speaking (NFA Qualification)
• Alex Peterson (4th-year) – 5^th in Dramatic Interpretation (NFA Qualification)
• Jessie Philips (4th-year) – 2^nd in Prose Interpretation (NFA Qualification)
• Jack Schroeder (2nd-Year) – 5^th in Extemporaneous Speaking (NFA Qualification)
• Jack Schroeder (2nd-Year) – 6^th in Informative Speaking (NFA Qualification)
• Cooper Spacil (2nd-Year) – 2^nd in After Dinner Speaking (NFA Qualification)
• Cooper Spacil (2nd-Year) – 2^nd in Broadcast Journalism
• Cooper Spacil (2nd-Year) – Semifinalist in Impromptu Speaking (NFA Qualification)
• Jack Unsell (1st-year) – 2^nd in Extemporaneous Speaking
• Jack Unsell (1st-year) – 3^rd in Impromptu Speaking
• Jack Unsell (1st-year) – 4^th in Rhetorical Criticism
• Jack Unsell (1st-year) – 5^th in Extemporaneous Speaking
• Lauren Weiss (2nd-Year) – 5^th in After Dinner Speaking (NFA Qualification)
• Lauren Weiss (2nd-Year) – Semifinalist in Impromptu Speaking (NFA Qualification)

Missouri Mule – Debate

Varsity International Public Debate Association (IPDA) Division

• • Sawyer Partney (2nd-Year) – Octafinalist

Junior Varsity International Public Debate Association (IPDA) Division

• • Emmett Beeson (1st-year) – Octafinalist
  • Eric Rotert (2nd-Year) – Quarterfinalist
  • Jack Unsell (1st-year) – Semifinalist, 1^st Place Speaker
  • Lauren Weiss (2nd-Year) – Quarterfinalist

Novice International Public Debate Association (IPDA) Division

• • Jack Schroeder (2nd-Year) – Octafinalist

Team International Public Debate (TIPDA) Division

• • Mikayla Hammer (2nd-Year) – 3^rd Speaker

Varsity NFA Lincoln-Douglas Debate (NFA-LD) Division

• • Aiden Bresawitz (4th-year) – 2^nd Place Finalist (NFA Qualification)
  • Payten Luaders (3rd-Year) – 4^th Seed (NFA Qualification)
  • Payten Luaders (3rd-Year) – 2^nd Place Speaker

Junior Varsity NFA Lincoln-Douglas Debate (NFA-LD) Division

• • Nevaeh Carter (1st-year), Tessa Kremer (1st-year), and Ammi McHugh (1st-year) (NFA Qualification) – Co-Champions
  • Nevaeh Carter (1st-year) – 1^st Speaker
  • Tessa Kremer (1st-year) – 2^nd Speaker
  • Ammi McHugh (1st-year) – 5^th Speaker
  • Sawyer Partney (2nd-Year) – 6^th Speaker

Missouri Mule – Team Awards

Pentathlon

• • Briggs Maynor (4th-year) – 3^rd Place
  • Alex Peterson (4th-year) – 2^nd Place
  • Jack Unsell (1st-year) – 5^th Place

“The Jack Award” (for top performers who do both speech and debate)

• • Jack Unsell  (1st-year) – 2^nd Place

Team Sweepstakes

• • Debate – 1^st Place
  • Individual Events – 2^nd Place
  • Overall – 1^st Place
  • Top Pi Kappa Delta Member University

University of Central Missouri – Dale Carnegie Tournament Individual Events Division

• Willow Adamson (1st-year) – 5^th in After Dinner Speaking
• Willow Adamson (1st-year) – 4^th in Poetry Interpretation (AFA Qualification)
• Alyssa Frisbee (3rd-Year) – 3^rd in Dramatic Interpretation (NFA Qualification)
• Alyssa Frisbee (3rd-Year) – 7^th in Program Oral Interpretation
• Mikayla Hammer (2nd-Year) – 2^nd in Extemporaneous Speaking (NFA Qualification)
• Mikayla Hammer (2nd-Year) – 3^rd in Persuasion (NFA Qualification)
• Briggs Maynor (4th-year) and Jessie Philips (4th-year) – 1^st in Duo Interpretation (AFA Qualification)
• Briggs Maynor (4th-year) – 2^nd in After Dinner Speaking (NFA Qualification)
• Briggs Maynor (4th-year) and Alex Peterson (4th-year) – 3^rd in Duo Interpretation
• Briggs Maynor (4th-year) – 4^th in Prose Interpretation (NFA Qualification)
• Briggs Maynor (4th-year) – 5^th in Rhetorical Criticism
• Emery McEvoy (2nd-year) – 1^st in Impromptu Speaking
• Emery McEvoy (2nd-year) –  1^st in Rhetorical Criticism
• Emery McEvoy (2nd-year) – 5^th in Informative Speaking (NFA Qualification)
• Ashton Mullen (3rd-Year) – 3^rd in Informative Speaking
• Annie Nguyen (1st-year) – 1^st in Informative Speaking (AFA Qualification)
• Annie Nguyen (1st-year) – 2^nd in Persuasion (AFA Qualification)
• Sawyer Partney (2nd-Year) – 6^th in Informative Speaking (NFA Qualification)
• Sawyer Partney (2nd-Year) – Semifinalist in Impromptu Speaking
• Alex Peterson (4th-year) – 4^th in After Dinner Speaking
• Alex Peterson (4th-year) – 4^th in Informative Speaking
• Cooper Spacil (2nd-Year) – 1^st in After Dinner Speaking (AFA Qualification)
• Cooper Spacil (2nd-Year) – 5^th in Extemporaneous Speaking
• Jack Unsell (1st-year) – 3^rd in Rhetorical Criticism (NFA Qualification)
• Jack Unsell (1st-year) – 5^th in Interviewing
• Jack Unsell (1st-year) – 6^th in Prose Interpretation (NFA Qualification)
• Lauren Weiss (2nd-Year) – 3^rd in After Dinner Speaking
• Lauren Weiss (2nd-Year) – Semifinalist in Impromptu Speaking

University of Central Missouri – Dale Carnegie Tournament Debate Division

Varsity NFA Lincoln-Douglas Debate (NFA-LD) Division

• • Payten Luaders (3rd-Year) – 4^th Speaker

Junior NFA Lincoln-Douglas Debate (NFA-LD) Division

• • Emmett Beeson (1st-year) – Semifinalist
  • Emmett Beeson (1st-year) – 3^rd Speaker
  • Nevaeh Carter (1st-year) – Quarterfinalist
  • Nevaeh Cater (1st-year) – 5^th Speaker
  • Tessa Kremer (1st-year) – Semifinalist
  • Tessa Kremer (1st-year) – 2^nd Speaker
  • Ammi McHugh (1st-year) – Quarterfinalist
  • Ammi McHugh (1st-year) – 6^th Speaker

University of Central Missouri – Dale Carnegie Tournament Team Awards

Pentathlon

• • Briggs Maynor (4th-year) – 2^nd Place
  • Emery McEvoy (2nd-Year) – 3^rd Place
  • Alex Peterson (4th-year) – 4^th Place

Team Sweepstakes

• • Debate – 1^st Place
  • Individual Events – 1^st Place
  • Overall – 1^st Place
  • Combined Swing Sweepstakes – 1^st Place

On September 20th and 21st, the Truman Forensics Union participated in its first debate tournament of the 2025-2026 season. The Washburn LD Warmup, hosted online by Washburn University. This year’s Lincoln Douglas Debate topic asks students to affirm or negate the resolution “Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially increase its military presence and/or scientific exploration in the Arctic or Antarctic.”

Truman Forensics had a wonderful showing at this season’s opener, qualifying 40% of the team for nationals. First-year novice team members Nevah Carter (Communication Disorders major from Wichita, KS), Tessa Kremer (Statistics major from Lebanon, MO), and Emmett Beeson (Business Administration major from Eureka, MO) all made elimination rounds, with Carter placing 2nd in the Novice division. Kremer and Beeson were a semifinalist and quarterfinalist, respectively. Carter was also 1st Speaker in the novice division, and Kremer was 5th Speaker. Speaker points are awarded to each debater for how well they performed when speaking in rounds, independent of the decision of who won or lost.

Returning competitors also performed outstandingly. Adli Jacobs (3rd year Political Science/Criminal Justice double major from St. Charles, MO) made it to quarterfinals, beating competitors from regional schools Washburn, Illinois College, and McKendree. Aiden Breesawitz (4th year Communication major from Bolivar, MO) competed in Varsity debate and was awarded 4th place speaker. While debaters may compete one-on-one, debate is truly a team sport. Assistant Director of Forensics, Lars Wagener, says “It’s the support and community on our team that makes success like this possible. Making an elimination round in debate qualifies a student for nationals. To have four debaters qualified this early is excellent.” This is just the start of an amazing season for the Truman Forensics Union.

At a recent online asynchronous tournament (OATS), Truman Speech earned an impressive 3^rd Place finish out of 53 teams. According to the tournament hosts, Outspoken Culture, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to providing an equitable, inclusive, and empowering platform for collegiate speech competitions, this tournament was the second largest in all of OATS history. Truman’s team has been steadily collecting qualifications for the National Forensic Association (NFA) national tournament in April, with 7 speech members and 4 debaters qualified across 31 individual slots.

While Truman students begin to prepare for finals, the team plans to round out their semester with three more competitions within the next month to stay polished over the coming breaks.

In addition to the most recent OATS tournament, the team also traveled to two in-person tournaments at the beginning of November. See below and on the team’s Instagram (@Trumanforensicunion) for the results:

OATS #3

Out of 180 students, speech team member Briggs Maynor (’26) finished 2^nd Place in Individual Sweepstakes. He received this recognition due to placing 2^nd in Poetry and 3^rd in Dramatic Interpretation.

Alex Peterson (’26) was also among the top point earners at the tournament, placing 4^th in Individual Sweepstakes. She received 2^nd in After-Dinner Speaking, 4^th in Informative, and 6^th in Communication Analysis.

Ashton Mullen (’26) placed 2^nd in Extemporaneous Speaking out of 46 competitors.

Finally, freshman and novice team member, Emery McEvoy (’28), was in the top 12 in Impromptu Speaking out of 77 competitors, the largest event at the tournament.

 

Redbird LD Tournament

A group of debaters traveled to Bloomington, IL on November 4-6 for the annual Lincoln-Douglas debate tournament hosted by Illinois State University. Truman walked away with three new qualifications to NFA.

Sophomore Payten Luaders (’27) was a Semifinalist (TOP 4) in the Varsity division and earned 5^th Place Varsity Speaker.

Ben Croat (’27) was the 2^nd Place tournament runner-up in the Junior Varsity division and was 4^th Place JV Speaker.

Freshman Ryan Franklin (’28) was a Semifinalist (TOP 4) in the JV division, losing on a 2-1 decision. Ryan also accumulated enough points to earn 3^rd Place JV Speaker.

Sawyer Partney (’28) was the 3^rd Place Speaker in the Novice division.

 

Norton IE Tournament

The same weekend the debate team traveled to ISU, members of the speech team went to Peoria, IL for the Norton individual events tournament hosted by Bradley University.

Alex Peterson was 5^th in After-Dinner Speaking out of 39 competitors and made it to the Semifinal (TOP 16) round of Impromptu out of 68 participants.

Emery McEvoy was the Tournament Champion in Novice Communication Analysis, in addition to placing 3^rd in Novice After-Dinner Speaking and 6^th in Novice Impromptu.

Freshman Mikayla Hammer (’28) also placed 4^th in Novice Impromptu out of 38 competitors.

 

 

The Truman Forensics Team is housed within the newly merged Department of Communication and Theatre Arts, giving students the opportunity to compete in both speech and debate activities across the state of Missouri and throughout the United States. If you are interested in joining the team or learning more about competitive public speaking or debate, please contact Director of the team, Dr. Ben Davis, at bdavis@truman.edu, or Assistant Director, Professor Scott Koslow, at skoslow@truman.edu.